(This is part of my journey going checking out Star Control 2. You can follow the entire series on the Retro Gaming page.)

On the advice of a long-range Spathi patrol, we head out into deep space to investigate a star that apparently blinks into existence three days every month. Turns out that this is a portal to a different type of hyperspace called QuasiSpace!

Ted, the studio intern, had to work ALL DAY to flip those color filters!

Other than being very, very, very green, QuasiSpace is remarkably empty compared to normal space. There is a small cluster of systems in the middle of a whole lot of nothingness as well as a larger system over to the side.

It’s here that I meet the mystical Arilou. They’re kind of insufferable mentors of humanity and a former part of the Alliance. Once earth got captured and — in the eyes of the Arilou — made “safe” behind the shield, the Arilou left to return to QuasiSpace instead of fighting the Ur’Quan. They mention that they’ve been tinkering with things on earth for thousands of years now, altering humanity and something about other species that we shouldn’t be allowed to see, or else it would be bad.

Space Guru there tells me that I could get my ship equipped with a generator that would allow for access anywhere in and out of QuasiSpace, but I’m going to need to go get a part for it first.

It’s not the easiest thing to do in the world, but I finally discover the Ur’Quan wreck and loot the part I need. Time to pimp my ride!

Getting back to QuasiSpace is tricky. The only regular portal opens up but a few days a month, so you have to wait around if you’re not in that window. I zip back to the Arilou and get my reward: a portal generator of my own.

This is actually great news. First of all, QuasiSpace doesn’t consume fuel once you’re there. Second, all of what I thought were other systems in QuasiSpace are actually portals going to different places across the starmap in regular space. This means that I can hop into QuasiSpace and take shortcuts around the galaxy for a relatively low fuel cost. Huzzah!